On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276[1] female students were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Responsibility for the kidnappings was claimed by Boko Haram, an Islamic Jihadist and terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria.
The abduction that catapulted Boko Haram into the global limelight was just the tip of almost six years of carnage from a group seeking to impose a caliphate on Africa’s largest and religiously mixed nation. Countless other families have been left adrift in a limbo of uncertainty. According to Amnesty International, 2,000 women and girls have been abducted since the start of 2014.
But as historic elections this month ushered in a new Nigerian government, many hope for a break from a past administration often shrouded in secrecy and public blunders in its dealings with the sect. A key challenge for the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari, a former dictator who crushed a similar religious sect during the 1980s, will be how it handles Boko Haram.
Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure to decisively counter the threat was a key issue in elections this month, with gains by the Islamist movement forcing a six-week poll delay as a regional force launched a successful offensive to drive them back.
One year and still counting .....waiting , praying and hoping that our girls will be brought back home safely.
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